Amazon Lockers a Boon to UK Libraries (?)

A few weeks back the govt of the UK released a report which looked at the various ways that libraries "shape the future" by providing services to the community.

The report as a whole is worth reading (it's a great rebuttal to the idea of libraries as "warehouses for books") but that's not why I'm writing about it today. The report came across my desk again this week when Infodocket noted that a new case study had been added to the report concerning the Amazon lockers that were installed in several libraries in 2012

You can read the complete case study here. It's relatively short, and can be summed up quickly. The West Sussex library system in the UK signed a deal with Amazon in December 2012 to have the delivery lockers installed in three branches: Chichester, Horsham and Crawley. The installation and operation proved to be relatively hassle free for the library staff.

According to the case study, the lockers:

provide a regular income for these libraries

are a popular service for customers

have no impact on staff time

are used by between 80 and 100 people in each location a week

bring people into the library

are used by non and existing library users; it is very difficult to assess if there is much crossover

There's not much to the case study, unfortunately, so it is hard to say whether other libraries should follow suit. But one thing I do know is that this is probably not what CILIP had in mind when it proposed last fall that libraries ally themselves with Amazon against publishers.

In any case, with UK libraries facing even steeper budget cuts than those in the US, any new source of revenue is worth considering.

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Nate Hoffelder is the founder and editor of The Digital Reader:"I've been into reading ebooks since forever, but I only got my first ereader in July 2007. Everything quickly spiraled out of control from there. Before I started this blog in January 2010 I covered ebooks, ebook readers, and digital publishing for about 2 years as a part of MobileRead Forums. It's a great community, and being a member is a joy. But I thought I could make something out of how I covered the news for MobileRead, so I started this blog."

1 Comment on Amazon Lockers a Boon to UK Libraries (?)

Maybe more libraries should look at Amazon lockers in the same way as property owners look at cell towers. They can be a good source of long term revenue and provide a service to the community though like all things I would imagine that some people would complain.